


The moon is so close you can kiss it

by ExpatGirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Castiel used to know, Dean is always pining, Episode: s11e04 Baby, M/M, Sam Knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 05:49:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8611126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpatGirl/pseuds/ExpatGirl
Summary: You get to love driving at night. The moon is so close you can kiss it.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BurningTea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningTea/gifts).



It took Dean three weeks of non-stop work to get the car back on the road after their run in with the...nachzehrer in Oregon. His own injuries were healed much more quickly.

He remembered the way Sam held back--”Nope, you first,” shoving at his shoulder, pushing him towards Castiel--as though Dean was going to renege on the deal.

“Yeah,” Dean said. He was sore to the roots, in ways that had nothing to do with his cracked ribs. “Me first.”

Cas’ knuckles were white from clenching his fist so hard. Without even thinking about it (or maybe he’d been thinking about it for the last hundred scraped-metal-and-oil-smoke miles, so he’d just stopped noticing), Dean reached out and grabbed that hand, worked those fingers loose, laid the warm palm against his cheek. He wasn’t sure if the shiver he felt was the first flicker of grace or--or something else.

But then there it was, those tender filaments of fire and mercy, stitching him back together, easy. He held on to Cas’ hand for a moment longer, then stepped back. “Thanks,” he said, allowing himself to meet Cas’ eye, before he lost his nerve and settled his attention on the crooked knot in his tie.

“Of course.” Cas’ voice caught a little, like part of him had snagged somewhere inside Dean and had yet to work free.

“Your turn, Sam,” Dean said, in much the same tone of voice, moving out of the way. Cas pressed two fingertips against Sam’s forehead and was rewarded, a moment later, with a one-armed hug and a smile. Dean felt heat lingering on the side of his face, like an imaginary brand, a fever in five fragments.

****

Sam’s words were low and excited as Dean turned the corner. “Now, see,  I think this one's the work of a ghoul rather than a human serial killer, because...”

“Hey,” Dean said from the doorway, to two pairs of stocking feet. The dark line of his shadow cut across Sam’s bed in a way unsettled him, for reasons he decided not to examine.

Almost in unison, Cas and Sam turned their attention from the watery light of the TV. Cas raised the remote and pressed pause.

“You, uh...feel like taking a drive?”

“Supply run?”  Sam asked, rolling out a crick in his neck.

“Um, no,” Dean said. “Just...for the hell of it. Finally got the kinks out, and I wanna let her stretch her legs. Y’know.” He felt weirdly nervous, almost jittery, tapping a rough scherzo against the doorjamb.

“Alright,” Cas said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and reaching for his shoes. His hair stuck up in the back from where he’d rested against the pillow. He walked towards Dean, and Dean was going to reach out, smooth it down, had a joke about it poised on the tip of his tongue. But then Cas detoured at the last minute. Dean watched, dumbfounded, as Cas eyed his own face in the mirror, before wetting his hands and combing his fingers through his hair, until it laid flat.

Dean felt every second of the missing year and a half as he looked at Cas’ reflection in Sam’s mirror.

“You know what,” Sam said slowly, from the bed. He looked straight at Dean as he continued: “You two go. I’m gonna look up some more info about that, uh, whisper, you mentioned the other day, Cas.”

“Not much to go on,” Cas said, shrugging into his coat with a frown. “Are you sure…”

“I like a challenge, on occasion,” Sam said, doing some kind of complicated overhead stretch and now not-looking at Dean so pointedly that it practically cut him. “You guys go. Have fun. Be safe.”

“See ya,” Dean said, already out the door, hellfire licking at the back of his neck. “Cas, c’mon.”

“I’ll see that Dean obeys the speed limit.”

“Good.”

****

“Where are we going?” Cas asked, somewhere around the three-hour mark. Dean tried to pick up any note of anxiety there, but all he found was curiosity, smudged with something like sleepiness. Cas looked so tired these days, but only when he thought Dean wasn’t watching.

Dean brought him endless, wordless cups of coffee.

“Just...enjoying the open road,” Dean said, trying a smile. All his teeth were firmly anchored in his mouth again, which was nice. “And,” Dean said, looking back toward the horizon, “the company.”

There was a pause, and Dean’s blood roared with static. Then Cas said: “Likewise,” and slouched down a little in his seat.

Dean drove on through the long prairie dusk and felt his cheek burn.

****

“Come on,” Dean said. He patted the hood. The metal was warm under his thighs, a pleasant contrast to the cool night air. “Plenty of room.”

The car dipped as Cas clambered up, settling next to him. The moon overhead shone bright and sure, but all around was darkness.

“Do you remember,” Dean asked, after a while, “the first night in Purgatory? When you and me and Benny climbed up that huge-ass tree so we could ambush those...whatever they were...in the morning?” This wasn’t something they talked about. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it now.

“It was the second night,” Cas said. “The first night, we walked until dawn. But yes.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “The second night. Whatever. We slept in the branches.”

“Mm.”

“We were like two storeys up!”

“Give or take, yeah.”

“It’s weird,” Dean sighed. “I don’t even _like_ heights. I mean, I’ve learned to deal but…”

“But?”

“I barely slept at all while I was looking for you, even with my feet on solid ground. It’s just... _weird_ . That was one of the best nights of sleep I had that year. I could’ve fallen!”  
  
“I wouldn’t have let you fall, Dean.”

“Yeah,” Dean said, gripped by a strange fervor, feeling his face burn. “I wouldn’t have let you fall, either.”

“I know.”

“Good,” Dean said. “Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> It was my birthday a few hours ago.
> 
> I have been writing this for two weeks. Take from that what you will.
> 
> Title from the Magnetic Fields, [Crowd of Drifters](https://youtu.be/QMH7ZHzetVw). It's a song from _The Charm of the Highway Strip_ , which is an album about vampires on an endless roadtrip across America. No, really.


End file.
